“BASED on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s unfinished 1966 Materpiece L’Enfer, this collection consists of neoprene, plastic, metallic lace, exclusive floral jacquards, lurex knitwear, organza and georgette in Laura Palmer blue, conflower, aqua, powder pink, dove grey and black,” is what Richard Nicoll told us about his show today – printed on the back of a sewing pattern featuring girls in childish pyjamas and matching bed bonnets.
Presented in the old Burberry building at 19-22 Haymarket, it was a fresh, modern collection that involved tunic dresses, overlaid in transparent PVC layers, that bounced out around the thighs by way of inner hoops and then fell all the way to the floor in sheer layers where they met another hoop. There were bleached out floral pyjama suits and very sexy sheer black dresses that were fabulously complimented by Manolo Blahnik heels of clear plastic and blue metallic panels.
Cone bra bodices and jacquard dresses overlaid in more PVC made the little girl grow up quickly, while gorgeous lurex knits in gold and rose pink, sometimes worn with iridescent matching shorts or stretchy mini skirts beneath, were very contemporary disco chic – one model held a transparent Perspex mobile phone clutch (by Anthony Campbell) to her ear, as if Eighties consumerism is coming back on a wave of Richard Nicoll cool.
Puff sleeved sheer chiffon dresses with frills gathered across their fronts or around their collars brought forth a very Noughties romance and their translucency underlined Nicoll’s way with contradiction: full on sex appeal one minute melts to pale princessy chiffon the next – all the while experimenting with new ways of making both look new.
And yet for all its girly modernity – it was something of a Marmite show – generating a few dismissals of “unflattering shapes and bland colours” amid raves of “wonderful flower prints, swing coats and soft layering” – but all the best art generates conversation, after all.
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